The Federal Government through the Ministry of Police Affairs in conjunction with the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali-Baba, has launched the Police Specialised Services Automation Project to institutionalise transparency, and accountability, and entrench quality service delivery within the Nigeria Police Force.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Muhammad Maigari-Dingyadi, commissioned the project at the International Peace Conference Hall, Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, on Thursday.
Maigari-Dingyadi noted that the alignment of the initiative with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) regime was key to prioritising enhanced security, the fight against corruption and economic development.
“I took over the process of its actualisation by presenting it to the Federal Executive Council for approval through a memorandum which was approved in July 2021.
Before now, the Nigeria Police has provided specialised services such as requests for Police Character Certificate, Police Extract, Specialised Escort, and Guard Services. The current manual mode of processing the delivery of these services is devoid of the basic tenets of accountability and transparency. For these reasons, the need to automate the processes became imperative.
The Minister, however, noted that POSSAP was not just a project of the NPF, but a mechanism put in place for the realisation of the Federal Government’s policy on its Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative.
“It is also a strategic initiative for the reformation of the Police for improved internal security through its integration with existing national identity data repositories and enhanced welfare of its officers and men while repositioning the image and perception of the Force.
“The image and perception of the Force would no longer be described by the individual actions of a few bad eggs but the collective mechanism for the prompt delivery of specialised services as encapsulated in the POSSAP project. I am glad to inform officers and men of the Force that the recent approval by Federal Government on the new salary structure for the police was largely predicated on the complimentary revenues to be derived from the POSSAP project.”
The IGP, Alkali-Baba, who also spoke during the event, said the meeting of the topmost hierarchy of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja was to periodically review and evaluate strategies and strengthen internal security operations against banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, highly violent crimes, evaluation of political trends, and general security issues interfacing with the field commanders to assess possible threats, and also sharpen strategy ahead of the 2023 generals elections.
“The concept of POSSAP is for citizens to enjoy police specialised services which is a global practice and to ensure standardization of the process of offering police services, and guarantee accountability as it would act as a complementary revenue to augment personnel welfare and finance basic needs such as the provision of tools for operation.
The Chief Executive Officer of POSSAP, Dr David Ibhawoh also stated that the project is meant for the reengineering of the existing police internal operations.
He said, “POSSAP is meant for the reengineering of the existing police internal operations to drive specialised services for sustainable improvement of infrastructure, efficiency, effectiveness, service delivery, accountability, and asset optimisation for the benefits of Nigerian citizens.”
Copyright PUNCH.
